…washing away dust and gobbledygook

Candy coloured Gallardos and jade gems

Was sitting at the waiting/lounging area of the hospital earlier this evening when I decided to give my book (yes, an actual old-school real-life book with paper pages you have to physically turn to read…no ebooks or marvin A.I. app here) a rest, and turn up the volume of the TV on the wall to watch the local evening news. Don’t recognize the news anchor, a rather pretty young lady in a pink top and I think slightly over-rouged cheeks.

The luxury market appears to be insulated from ongoing global economic woes, as demand for luxury goods continues to be driven by the strong Singapore dollar and the growing number of wealthy tourists this year.

Experts have told Channel NewsAsia that the sector is poised for further growth due to the rising number of ultra-rich in the region.

“Normally if there is a crisis, sales will be affected. But fortunately, we haven’t felt the effects yet… people are more willing to live the life, willing to spend their wealth,” said Melvin Goh, managing director of EuroSports Auto, a luxury automobile dealer.

Previously, most owners of Lamborghinis, a luxury car, were in their 50s. However the age group now is getting younger, with entrepreneurs who have made it in their 30s owning luxury sports cars. More women are also going behind the wheels of a Lamborghini.

Data from research firm Wealth-X shows that 26 per cent of ultra High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) with at least S$36.5m have a luxury car collection. Their appetite for the high life is unlikely to fade, said experts.

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Heh, reminds me of what I said elsewhere a little while ago, regarding luxury consumption, candy-coloured Lamborghini Gallardos, jade gems, and the ‘non-linearity of the utility function’:

“Bait someone by making him believe he gains something or just make him react to it (“toss out a brick”) and obtain something valuable from him in return (“get a jade gem”).”

This proverb is based on a story involving two famous poets of the Tang Dynasty. There was a great poet named Zhao Gu (趙嘏) and another lesser poet by the name of Chang Jian (常建). While Chang Jian was travelling in Suzhou, he heard news that Zhao Gu would be visiting a temple in the area. Chang Jian wished to learn from the master poet, so he devised a plan and went to the temple in advance, then wrote a poem on the temple walls with only two of the four lines completed, hoping Zhao Gu would see it and finish the poem. Zhao Gu acted as Chang Jian foresaw, and from this story came the proverb.

Apologies, have no precious jade or gem to offer. But note that your second point:

2) Some consumption will see large increases in both price and volume, including entertainment, pleasure, food-drinks, tourism, transportation, luxurism, exoticism, etc.,

is already happening in quite a few places around the world, especially in many parts of Asia as recipients of ‘hot money’ inflows or at least, as perceived relative safe havens. And in a perverse sort of way, I actually will welcome your expectation of:

a depressing trend … This should apply to real-estate, arts, antiques, many commodities, and the overall stock markets.,

especially here in my little city (Spore). Hopefully, a puncturing of the ballooned-up wealth effect here can rein in the luxury consumption which is currently very blatantly on display here. Too many Porsches, Maseratis and even ‘boy-racer’ GTRs roaring around the neighbourhood at unearthly hours. Just last night, a long line of candy-coloured Gallardos were blocking the entire front street. I shudder to think if this “consumption will continue to see large increase in volume.”

[One may interpret the ‘recursive’ words above as a little tongue-in-cheek illustration of the non-linearity of the utility function in action.
:)
]

But evidently, my perverse and non-linear non-utility wish for ‘a puncturing of the ballooned-up wealth effect here’, is not coming to pass…

Even a few moments ago, as I am tapping this out at this early hour, I can hear yet another neighbour’s supercar roar into the estate driveway, screeching and shrilling around the entrance roundabout, before the throb-throb-throbbing drone of it’s oversized and overlarge engine fade away as it descends into the basement carpark.

Sigh…this neighbourhood is getting too loud and too crowded.

But rather than perversely wishing for a bursting of the bubble and the coming of depressed markets, which obviously is masochistic and shall be self-hurting as well, I should just raise the white flag and remove myself to a more amenable neighbourhood.

Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, this/my situation will improve soon…to a somewhat quiet and yet very urbane cul-de-sac, and closer to the Gardens.